Scientists have known for years that when in doubt, the human brain tends to be optimistic. We ignore warnings about the danger of texting while driving, we drive without a seatbelt without assessing the danger in case of accidents, we close our eyes to statistics that suggest that our eating habits kill us, and we tend to believe that everything will have a happy ending for us even if circumstances seem to indicate otherwise, and that misfortunes only happen to others.
Last night the Ig Nobel prizes were awarded to the most absurd investigations of the year. Thus, the Ig Nobel in psychology went to the Dutch Anita Eerland and Rolf Zwaan and the researcher Tulio Guadalupe (Peru), for demonstrating that leaning to the left makes the Eiffel Tower in Paris appear smaller.
Faced with a specific situation of stress, cardiac activity increases, breathing becomes agitated, sweating appears in the hands and the mouth becomes dry. But when stress is continued things can get worse and trigger depression. Scientists from the University of Washington (USA) present today in Nature the molecular mechanism that explains the link between a situation of chronic stress and depressive disorders.
What happens in our brain when we speak? Although verbal expression is made up of a whole series of very complex mechanisms, an international team of scientists has managed to identify the way in which vowels are encoded in our brain. The finding could be used to develop systems that allow people who have lost speech to regain speech, or to facilitate communication in patients with some type of paralysis.
Moments before solving a problem, the brain "bulb" lights up in an area known as the anterior cingulate cortex. Scientists have shown that neurons in this area fire especially if we are in a good mood, so they recommend playing at work to stimulate creativity.
Surely, more than once, you were late for work or an appointment and it has cost you horrors to remember where you left your house or car keys. In an article published recently in the journal Cognition, Grayden Solman, a researcher at the University of Waterloo, concluded that this very common phenomenon could be due to a lack of synchronization between neurons.
A British study carried out at University College London has shown that it takes 66 days for a habit to form and to be maintained for years. That means that if during that time "you repeat something every day in the same situation, it becomes an automatic reaction to that situation, that is, a habit," explains Jane Wardle.
According to Judith Wurtman, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), proteins supply the brain with tyrosine, an amino acid that increases the production of neurotransmitters that keep the mind alert, focused and productive (dopamine and norepinephrine). When tyrosine levels drop we suffer from apathy and lack of motivation.
Danni Büchner is invited to Sam Dylan's Halloween party. But the "Goodbye Germany" emigrant has no desire for many other party guests. And find clear words.
